Kirsten Doyle
President
Kirsten Doyle has been immersed in the world of autism advocacy within the education system since her autistic son started school twelve years ago. Having lived with autism herself and experienced the journey of autism parenting, she is passionate about her belief that no matter what their abilities and challenges are, people can rise to any opportunity, as long as they are given the accommodations and support they need. Kirsten serves on the TDSB Special Education Advisory Committee and is part of the Congregated Schools Parent Network. Her goal is to get the voices of people with visible and invisible disabilities heard by government representatives at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels.
Heather Willis
Vice President
Born in Toronto, Heather has been an accessibility advocate since she was a teenager growing up in an institution for disabled children. In the decades since, she has served on numerous committees and boards dedicated to the equity and full inclusion of persons with disabilities. Heather is a graduate of TMU’s School of Disability Studies and has a post-graduate diploma in Disability Studies from the University of Leeds.
In 2010, following a 25-year career at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Heather joined Toronto Metropolitan University as its inaugural Accessibility Coordinator. She leads TMU’s accessibility initiative, “ACCESS TMU”, with the goal of identifying, removing and preventing accessibility barriers for all members of the university community.
Linda Hunt
Treasurer
Linda holds a Diploma in Business Administration. She is an Award Winning, Accessibility Consultant and advocate for all things related to accessibility. Linda has a passion for community projects that enhance accessibility and allow persons with disabilities to be active and engaged
members of their community.
Linda was elected to Brantford City Council in 2022. She is the first person with a physical disability to be elected as Brantford City Councillor. Linda first became a person with a physical disability in 2004. Since then, she has become an active advocate and engaging speaker on a variety of accessibility topics. She is also the host of the Accessibility Solutions podcast. Professionally, Linda has more than 25 years of experience in senior management roles with the public, private and non-profit sectors. In addition, she and her husband have operated a family business for over 30 years.
Kate Tutu
Secretary
Kate Tutu is a Master’s graduate in Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University with a Sociology background. She is an experienced policy government worker who has had the privilege to work in all levels of government.
As a student with disabilities, Kate has joined panels sharing my experience, highlighting the barriers beyond just physical hoping to ensure that the perspective and lens of a disabled person is included in institutional discussions. She has experience advocating for the accessibility in the offices that she’s worked in, collaborating with facilities to highlight the faults in their “universal” design of offices, emphasizing the exclusion that they contribute to prospective disabled employees. As a board member of CWDO, Kate would like to contribute to the betterment of disabled individuals, as well as adding an intersectional view. Also, as a young person, she thinks it is important to be an active participant in disability justice.
Kate values the importance of true inclusion, empathy and accessibility, and she strives to impart that in every room she enters.
Mah-E-Leqa Jadgal
Public Relations Director
Mah-E-Leqa Jagdal previously served as CWDO’s Secretary and submitted Form 1 changes to the Ontario government to ensure our Board’s Corporate information on file was up-to-date, thereby protecting our non-profit status. As part of Next to Lead Niagara, Mah-E-Leqa worked with other persons with disabilities on addressing issues in accessibility in the Niagara Region. As a result, she presented at a couple of conferences and forums in Niagara and Toronto. Next to Lead helped Mah-E-Leqa to see disability and persons with disability differently, despite having a disability herself.
Mah-E-Leqa is a recent graduate of Brock University. She studied Medical Sciences and completed an undergraduate thesis in Quality Improvement. Mah-E-Leqa is very interested in research that aims to advance modern medicine.
Adam Cohoon
Member at Large
Adam has operated as an independent Artist and Disability Advocate. Adam’s work has included tweeting, photography, filmmaking, and public speaking. The work has also appeared on “CBC Toronto,” in the “Metro” newspaper and “Toronto Star Online.” Through recent technological advances, leading to the GoPro camera affixed to Adam’s power wheelchair and accessible computer and laptop, Adam has independently developed a manner of producing films. Mounting the GoPro on Adam’s wheelchair has allowed the ability to take video and photos from a first-person perspective using a custom camera mount.
Julie Emeid
Membership Secretary
Julie Emeid identifies herself as a 30-year-old disabled woman whose mission in life is to educate and create awareness surrounding disability and mental health. Julie had always felt the need to prove herself. As a disabled child, she dealt with many people who underestimated her abilities. During her high school experience, she was enrolled in essential courses despite passing with A’s. Her parents have said she can be stubborn. Although this may be true, Julie says, she does not see it as a negative trait. Alongside her physical and learning challenges, she has had her fair share of mental health challenges.
From a young age, Julie lived with anxiety and the need to be perfect. A few years ago, she experienced two traumatic events. These events had her navigating the social service sector as a service user. Julie reached out for support once she began experiencing panic attacks. Her personal experiences with mental health only strengthened her desire to support those with mental health issues. As an adult, Julie is working on improving her mental health daily. Julie knows of the personal and systemic barriers that people with disabilities and mental health issues face.
Julie would like to be a part of the change for people with disabilities on a systemic level. Julie believes that there are things worth fighting for. She hopes to be a voice for those who may not have one.
Alexis Buettgen
Board Member
Alexis is a community-engaged researcher, educator, and advocate, with over 15 years of experience in community-based research, evaluation and strategic planning, health and social services, academic institutions, and activist organizations including numerous organizations of persons with disabilities. She has dedicated her career to advancing research, practice and policy in the areas of social and climate justice; social, political and economic inclusion; poverty reduction and community capacity and coalition building with a particular interest in disability studies.
Her current work focuses on disability inclusion in the green economy and bridging the gap between academic knowledge and climate action through fieldwork carried out at local, national, and international levels. Her work is interdisciplinary and engages with various stakeholders in the private, public and non-profit sectors. Alexis supports CWDO by drawing on her experiences with organizational capacity building, strategic planning, research and using evidence to support community advocacy and activism.
She holds an MA in Community Psychology, a PhD in Critical Disability Studies and a recent postdoctoral fellowship in Economics and Business.
Tracy Odell
Board Member
Tracy Odell is a life-long advocate for independent living and the right of people with disabilities to live in the community.
Tracy has assisted in founding numerous supportive housing programs with attendant services, is credited with the establishment of “Nurturing Assistance,” has published articles and appeared in videos to raise awareness of issues relating to disability. Tracy has a Master’s degree in Critical Disability Studies and received the John Lord Participatory Action Research Award for her research paper, “Not Your Average Childhood.” Self-managing her attendant services, Tracy lives with her husband in Scarborough as proud parents of two grown daughters and grandparents of three girls.
Pat Seed
Board Member
Pat holds her B.A. in Speech Communications. She has taught and continues to teach Speaking with Confidence and Public Speaking to Broadcasters and other Professionals. She is also a professional Public and Motivational Speaker, as well as a Writer.
Totally blind from birth, Pat originally used a white cane for mobility, but she has been travelling with Guide Dogs at her side since November of 1996. Pat has worked for Bell Canada and Confederation College. She also was employed as the Information and Referral Coordinator of the Thunder Bay Independent Living Resource Centre for seven and a half years.
Pat began her Professional volunteering career for non-profit organizations, her Parish church, and other organizations in 1980. She still volunteers today as a consultant and resource person in many areas for various organizations. Pat was a member of the Steering and Logistics Committee for the Thunder Bay Leadership Forum 2007, is a member of the Business Women’s Network of Thunder Bay, and many other organizations.
Dianne Wintermute
Board Member
Dianne is a recently retired lawyer who worked at ARCH Disability Law Centre for almost 15 years. Prior to joining ARCH, Dianne was the Executive Director of a community legal clinic for 16 years. In those capacities, she was a passionate advocate on behalf of persons with disabilities, and an anti-poverty activist.
Dianne engaged in community development activities; wrote policy briefs to the government on many issues affecting low-income persons and persons with disabilities; delivered public legal education workshops; and represented persons with disabilities in test case litigation at a variety of tribunals, including the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, and at all levels of Court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Dianne has experience supervising law students through the disability law intensive program offered through Osgoode Hall Law School and though CWDO’s partnership with Pro Bono Students Canada. Many of these activities included CWDO.
Dianne wants to continue to advocate for persons with disabilities with low incomes. She can offer experience and expertise in the activities named above. Dianne is passionate about accessibility, accommodation, and human rights in a wide variety of topics.
Cheryl Stacey
Board Member
Cheryl is passionate and committed to advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities, particularly related to accessibility and access to required services, resources and supports. As a person with disabilities and multiple rare medical conditions, Cheryl can bring lived experience and her unique perspective to CWDO. She previously worked in labour relations, human resources, disability management and vocational rehabilitation prior to becoming ill.
Medically retired from the federal public service, Cheryl currently volunteers for the Heart & Stroke Foundation Canada and is a member of the March of Dimes Disability Advocacy Network and the Ontario Health Patient & Family Advisors Network. She is also a member of the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders and the National Institute of Disability Management and Research.